The New Adventures of the Karakura Superheroes
by purpleswans
Summary: Ever since Ichigo became unable to return to the world of the living, the hollow attacks have lessened, but are still higher than normal for a region of its size. To help with this problem, Urahara enlists the aid of several young people with the capabilities to fight hollows. But will they be enough for what is coming?
1. Chapter 1

**Hey! so I really need to get back into writing. I finally got around to watching Bleach about 6 months ago, and have developed fanfic ideas, including this one. I want to see how well people react to it so I can decide whether to continue focusing on this story or put it on a back burner and try out some of my other ideas. Please leave a comment telling me whether you honestly like how this story looks after you finish.**

**Also, just to make things clear: this will primarily be focusing on Karin, but will include a lot of "guest appearances" from other characters, including Soul Reapers and Ichigo's friends. It will most likely include stuff that is Anime-only, as well as be what I theorize is the continuation of what in currently going on in the Manga. There will eventually be some Hitsukarin romance, but it will not be the focus of the story. And if anyone has any constructive criticism or is interested in being my Beta, feel free to leave a comment or send a message.**

**Disclaimer: if you don't think i own it, I probably don't.**

**3/25/14: After going back and reading my work, I am horrified by my terrible writing. I've reworked some of this chapter, but I might have to come back an rework it again later. I could really use a Beta, so if you're interested please PM me or something!**

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Karin was juggling a soccer ball on her knee. She had already surpassed her personal best, but since no one was around to share in her triumph, she celebrated silently. Honestly, she was only doing this to pass the time and as an excuse to get out of the house without worrying her father and sister. Soccer had always been fun, but with Ichigo gone, it was difficult to take an interest in anything.

During the Quincy blood war, Ichigo had gone through rigorous training that had unlocked his true potential and risen his Spiritual pressure even more than it already had been. In fact, it had risen so much that if he ever returned to the world of the living, he could destroy the town with his mere presence. As a result, he had taken a job as Captain of the Eighth division and stayed in the Soul Society. He could still talk to his friends and family through the tv Urahara had set up in his shop, and most of them could visit with their soul tickets, but Karin could still feel his absence. It was similar to how she had felt when her mother had died, but not quite as bad.

Giving up on trying to distract herself with soccer when nobody else wants to practice, she dropped the ball and sat down on a ledge. As much as she tried to hide it, Karin really missed her brother. Sure, he could be annoying and stupid and overprotective and he REALLY should have told her about the soul reaper stuff earlier, but he was her brother and she loved him. It bothered her that he was in another dimension putting his life on the line every day and she couldn't see him as often as she used to.

Lost in her own thoughts, Karin almost didn't realize she was being watched. If she had been paying attention, she would have realized someone was crouching behind a low wall, just letting his eyes rise high enough to see when she sat down. As it was, it took her several minutes of contemplating how much her life sucks before she realized someone was spying on her. Deciding to face this latest problem how she liked to face all her opponents, head on, Karin picked up her ball and marched right up to the creeper.

"Hey! What are you doing following me?" She demanded.

The boy jumped up, surprised. Karin scrutinized him. She recognized him as a boy from her school. What what his name... oh yeah, Suzaku. Suzaku was a quiet boy, slightly above average academically, but not good enough to really get noticed. He had a tendency to stick to himself, but did occasionally hang out with a few groups of people Karin sort of knew. She couldn't think of any time he had shown any special interest in her, and she certainly couldn't think of any reason he could possibly have for following her.

She repeated the question. "Why are you following me?"

The boy mumbled something incomprehensible.

"What was that?" Karin asked. She held the soccer ball in her hand menacingly. For some reason unknown to Karin, most of the other kids got scared when she held a ball in her hands. Not that she was complaining. It was actually kind of useful, especially in situations like this.

"Please don't kill me! I was just trying to find out where you live so I could date Yuzu!" He cried, feebly trying to protect his face with his hands.

Karin frowned. "Explain to me how finding out where I live makes you date Yuzu."

Suzaku swallowed. "Well, since you're sisters, I figured you two probably live together. If I followed you, I could find out where both of you live. Then, whenever she is walking to school I could walk with her, saying that I lived in the area. She would get to know me, and since she is so nice and pretty and we are so similar she would start to like me and we will get married and have tons of adorable kids!" He started babbling towards the end with a dreamy look in his eyes.

Karin wasn't surprised. Not only did her twin sister get all the skills in housework, but she also had all the social graces needed to attract guys. When it comes to physical attributes, both twins looked very similar. But since Yuzu was into girly things and bothered to focus on things like hair, makeup, and clothes, she was the one the guys went after. In contrast, Karin didn't care very much about her appearance. She focused on functionality instead of being pretty. Putting on makeup in the morning cut into sleep time, and she was more focused on keeping her hair out of her face in soccer practice than on making it look nice. As a result, she tended to be the sort of girl guys want to be friends with, not date.

Yet another reason why Karin's life sucks.

"You know, you could've just asked. I might have told you." At Karin's words, Suzaku's face brightened. She motioned for him to follow. "I'll give you credit for imagination, but it probably won't work. My sister isn't into stalkers."

She started walking home with the relieved boy in tow. Neither of them where into small talk, so an awkward silence fell between them. When they were still a ways away from Karin's home she stopped, letting Suzaku run into her.

"What is it Karin? Are we there yet?" he asked.

Karin didn't answer him. Ever since her brother had lost his powers in the fight against Aizen, Karin had stopped trying to deny her spiritual powers. With experience she had learned how to identify hollows with spiritual pressure alone and had even picked up some fighting tools and tricks from Urahara. When she concentrated, she could tell that there was a Hollow nearby. It wasn't a Menos or anything that horribly powerful, but still quite a bit more powerful than what she felt comfortable facing on her own. Taking notice of where exactly she was, Karin tried to figure out what experienced hollow killer was the closest. Orihime, Chad and Uryu where all to far away to get there in a feasible amount of time. Home was pretty close, but it would still take to long to get there and Goat Chin took a while to get out of his Gigai. Urahara's shop was the closest. Since she could tell the hollow was closing in, old Hat 'n Clogs it was then.

When she decided where to go, she took off at a speed she normally reserved for the last few minutes of a soccer game. At least, she started to until exclamations from her stalker reminded her that there was someone else nearby.

"Stay here!" She called back. "I just remembered that I need to pick up something at a shop. I'll be right back!"

Karin knew that the hollow would come after her because of her spiritual pressure. Although she could tell Suzaku was a little higher on the spectrum than normal, Karin was off the charts. Most likely any hollow that dared to come close to Karakura town would want to focus all their energy on chasing the off-the-charts people instead of the higher-than-normal people. Also, if Karin did have to fight the hollow, she would prefer to do it without an audience.

Karin raced to the candy shop, not even daring to waste a second to look back. She could sense the hollow closing in, above and slightly behind her. It was getting lower and lower to the ground. Karin clutched the anti-hollow spray Urahara had given her to defend herself. If the monster got to low and started tearing up the street, a good spray in the face could scare away or stun lesser hollows. However, if it was to big and able to take it (which Karin found more likely) it would only make it angrier as well as alert it to her location and intentions.

Deciding that the hollow had gotten far enough down that she had to risk it, Karin turned around and lifted the spray nozzle. However, it wasn't the hollow that she almost sprayed in the eyes. Suzaku, the idiot, had decided to follow her for some reason even though she remembers specifically telling him not to.

"What the HELL are you doing here? Do you want to get killed?" She shouted at him.

He gulped. "Well, you see..." he began.

"You know what? Tell me later. Right now, duck!" She cried, changing her aim to hit the hollow instead of the annoying boy.

She hit it square in the face. Not stopping to see how the spray worked, Karin took off again, dragging the shocked Suzaku with her. It was a good thing too, since she very soon heard a roar that indicated the spray hadn't worked as well as she'd hoped. Looks like her only plan for survival included Urohara's help.

"What was that thing? " asked Suzaku.

"A hollow" Karin replied. She decided to contemplate the fact that he could see them later. Now she needed to focus on staying alive.

Thankfully, they were about to round the corner to Urahara's shop at that point. Jinta and Ururu where sweeping the front.

"Hey! Annoying girl! What are you doing bringing a hollow here?" Jinta asked. For some reason, the red-haired midget felt the urge to call almost everyone he knew by a degrading nickname. Despite how long he'd known Karin, he couldn't decide on which one to stick with. Annoying seemed to be his most recent fad.

Karin bit back a come-back to Jinta's name calling and just asked "where is your boss?"

"Out" Ururu stated, practically a whisper. At the sound of her voice, Suzaku turned and his face brightened. Great, now he could obsess over her and stay away from Yuzu.

"Well, then it looks like we have a problem. Would you guys mind helping me defeat this hollow?" Karin pleaded.

"Well it depends on if you give us a reason to..." Jinta started to say, trying to sound cool with his better-than-thou attitude.

"Of course" Ururu said

"WHAT!" Jinta yelled. "No way! Not unless they pay us."

"But Karin is a valued customer and friend. And the boss said..."

"Are you out of your mind?" Jinta started rubbing his knuckles into Ururu's hair and making her cry. "I don't care what the boss said! And I don't want to fight this hollow so we aren't going to."

"Oh, I'm sure your boss would love to hear that." Karin muttered.

At that particular moment, the hollow decided to come running around the corner screeching.

Jinta saw it and screwed up his face. "Fine! I guess we have no choice but to fight it. Ururu, go get the weapons"

The young girl nodded and ran inside. Jinta twirled his broom over his head and took up a fighting stance. As the Hollow came storming up to him, Jinta hit him square on the head, right on top of the mask. The Hollow growled and jumped back into one of the neighboring buildings.

"Dam it Karin, what did you DO to this thing? Not only is it strong, it's pissed!" Jinta yelled.

"Well, I just hit it with one of those sprays your boss gave me," she replied.

"You mean the prototypes that haven't been field tested yet? Those sprays? "

"Uh, yeah." In hindsight, Karin did remember Urahara saying something like that when he gave them to her. But since most of the things Urahara gave her came with similar warnings, she hadn't thought much of it at the time.

Ururu came back at that point with several weapons Karin recognized. She gave Jinta his club, which he brandished like a baseball bat. To Karin she gave a small knife, which Karin was pretty sure would be useless in this fight since she didn't see herself being able to get close enough to use it. She even gave Suzaku a little spray can similar to what Karin had tried to use against the Hollow earlier. Hopefully he wouldn't have to use it. Ururu obviously had her giant cannon.

"I'm sorry," she sighed. "We are almost out of stock in the shop. Boss has a new order coming in, but till then this is all we've got"

"Nah, don't worry," Jinta said. "I can take this thing on by myself." He swung his club, yelling "Home Run!"

This time, the Hollow was ready for the attack. It easily dodged Jinta's attack and lazily swiped him out of the air, sending him flying into a light pole.

So much for taking that thing on by himself.

Ururu shot at the Hollow. Even though it was at close range, the Hollow still managed to avoid a hit and retaliated by shooting a blast of energy toward Ururu. It hit the mark, knocking the little girl unconscious. She fell to the ground, dropping the cannon.

Karin couldn't comprehend what was happening. Going off the Hollow's size, shape and amount of spiritual pressure, it should be very slow and almost incapable of using a cero. However, it was fighting like a much more powerful Hollow. If that was the case, then it looks like everything she thought she knew about Hollows could be wrong.

Karin shook off these thoughts. There would be time to ponder on these things later. Time to focus on surviving this fight. She assessed her assets. The only people still conscious were Suzaku and herself, though Jinta looked like he was starting to stir. As far as weapons go, they only had a cannon Karin didn't know how to use, a club Karin knew she couldn't lift (she had tried several months ago on a dare), a knife, and some spray that didn't work. Oh, there was also the soccer ball Karin had almost forgotten about, but up against a hollow as powerful as this one, it was about as useless as the spray.

Karin could hear some groaning coming from Jinta's direction. At this point, Karin and Suzaku's best chance was to distract the Hollow until Urahara got home. All while staying alive.

"Suzaku!" She ordered. "If that thing gets close to you, do whatever it takes to keep it occupied. Hopefully help will be coming soon!"

The boy nodded, though he looked scared out of his mind.

For the first time since she had seen it, Karin heard the Hollow's voice. It was lightly chuckling, as though it found Karin's comment amusing. "You really think you can survive until help arrives, little girl? I for one am confident that you will be in my belly before any help arrives. I have already planned on devouring all the useful souls in this area. I wanted to do it earlier, but I heard there was a very powerful soul reaper watching over the residents and didn't want to die. But I recently discovered that he was stuck in the Soul Society, and the area was practically unprotected. Guess that soul reaper didn't really care about this town after all."

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY ABOUT ICHIGO!" Karin screamed. That Hollow did NOT just insult her brother!

Infuriated, Karin dropped the Soccer ball and backed up to get a running start. "Goal kick!" She announced as she ran up and kicked the ball. As she kicked, she released all her pent up anger and resentment she felt for being left behind when Ichigo had to stay in the Soul Society. She released her frustration at having a power she didn't want, the power to see souls. She even released some of the lingering sadness that would never leave from her mother's death. As she did so, the ball started glowing with a red tinted light, though she was concentrating to hard to really notice. When her kick reached completion, some words popped into her head and she chanted them, like a prayer.

"Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of man! Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march on to the south! Hado number 31, Shakkaho!"

As she spoke the incantation, the ball started glowing brighter. When she finished, which luckily coincided with the ball hitting the Hollow, it exploded into a bright red light. Both the ball and the Hollow's mask were destroyed in the blast. The monster only had time to mutter "Dam it" before it disintegrated.

Everything was still for several moments before they heard a steady clapping sound. Karin turned to find none other than Kisuke Urahara standing in front of his shop, clapping his hands.

"Well done Miss Karin! A very nice execution of kido. I have to admit, I've never seen anyone use Shakkaho in that particular way, though I can see why now. It seems you are in need of a new soccer ball." He motioned to the scattered remains of said ball.

"Wait, have you been watching the whole time?" Karin asked. As much as she liked and appreciated the man, she wouldn't put it past him to pull something like that.

"Who, me?" He put on his innocent shopkeeper face. "I was just coming back from picking up some raw materials. I only got into earshot soon enough to catch the end of the Hollow's speech, and only close enough to do anything after you had already started your incantation."

Karin still had doubts, but decided to let it go.

"Now, why don't we all come on inside to rest up before you head home Karin." Urahara continued.

"Yeah, and I bet you'll try to sell me some more anti-hollow spray that doesn't work," she muttered.

"Oh, and while you're here, you can introduce me to your friend who can see spirits!" Urahara smiled, patting Suzaku on the shoulder.

Suzaku grimaced. "Could someone please explain to me what just happened?"

Karin sighed. "You heard him, hat'n clogs. Explain. I'm helping myself to some tea."

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**Please Review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey! So, since the response to my first chapter was so underwelming (zero follows, favorites, and reviews), I am going to try to get a response again with this chapter. Please, please please tell me whether I should continue to focus on this story or move on to some of my other ideas.**

**Disclaimer: If you don't think I own it, I don't,**

**3/25/14: I have reworked this chapter. I've made some important chages, so if you already read this chapter please go back and read it again. I could really use a Beta!**

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Captain Ichigo Kurosaki of squad 8 had grown very tired of paperwork. For the first time, he could understand why it was the source of so many arguments between Toshiro and Rangiku. Ichigo was a warrior, a doer, not a paper-pusher. He prefers to be out in the field fighting Hollows, instead of sitting at a desk reading reports. Doing captain's work in peacetime was boring.

Ichigo yawned and turned the page on the report he was currently reading. It covered a short skirmish that had occurred on the edge of the Rukon District. A few Hollows had come out and started attacking the souls in that area, but luckily there where some Soul Reapers on patrol nearby, so there where very few lives lost. It was just an everyday occurrence, something Ichigo had already seen plenty of even though he had only been a captain for a couple of months.

There was a light knocking on the door to Ichigo's office. "Come in," Ichigo replied, already pretty sure he knew who it was.

Lieutenant Kaname Himura stepped in. Previously the 3rd seat of squad 3, he had been promoted to fill the void when Nanao had transferred to squad 1 with Head Captain Shunsui Kyoraku. Ichigo was really grateful for having his Lieutenant around, since he lessened the burden of a Job Ichigo was relatively new to.

"I've got a budget report for you to sign off on, Sir." The Lieutenant explained.

Ichigo took the form from his subordinate and started reading it thoroughly. Lieutenant Kaname stood off to the side and waited for his Captain to finish. Ichigo knew that it would be quicker and easier if he just signed anything that was handed to him, but he wanted to make sure he did his job right. Even though nobody actually said it, Ichigo knew that a lot of people weren't all that happy with the fact that a Substitute Soul Reaper had been given a Captain's position. He was determined to prove to everyone he was up to the task.

When he finished checking over the budget report and had signed it, Ichigo handed it over to Kaname. "Here you go! And how many times do I have to tell you to just call me Ichigo?"

"As many times as it takes, Captain," Kaname replied.

As the Lieutenant started to leave, the squad's third seat Miroku Maki came barreling in. He was a very rambunctious officer, and for some reason had decided that Ichigo was a god and should be idolized as such.

"Captain! Captain! Lieutenant Kuchiki had come to see you!" Miroku announced.

"Oh, Rukia is here?" Ichigo was secretly excited to see her. "Please send her in, Miroku. Kaname, you better get back to work."

Both of them bowed and left to complete their respective tasks. Rukia's timing couldn't have been better. Ichigo had just been hoping for something to give him an excuse for a break from the paperwork.

Rukia entered the office without knocking, something Ichigo found uplifting in comparison to most of the officers.

"Hey Ichigo! How are you doing?" Rukia asked.

"Ok. What do you need, Rukia? Did Ukitake send you?"

"Can't a girl bop on by to check on an old friend?"

Ichigo smiled. "Of course you can."

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Karin made the tea while Urahara started to explain what Soul Reapers, Wholes and Hollows were to Suzaku. Urahara tried to get everything across, but since Suzaku was pretty clueless it wasn't until Urahara had basically said everything twice that it finally sunk in. When he finished the fundamentals, Urahara then went on to explain how he, his employees and Karin fit into everything. Karin felt a little pang of sadness when he mentioned her brother and everything he had done, but tried not to show it. Urahara even mentioned that there were other people who also possessed some abilities to destroy Hollows, but since the Quincy and Fullbringers weren't covered in his brief overview of the supernatural and Suzaku wouldn't be able to recognize Uryu, Chad and Orihime's names anyway, he didn't get into specifics.

When he finished explaining, Urahara took a long sip of tea.

Karin had to give Suzaku credit, he was taking it all very well. He had no problem accepting the fact that there were terrifying monsters that go bump in the night. But then again, almost getting eaten by one of said monsters probably helped.

"So... what now?" Suzaku asked.

"What now indeed," Urahara closed his fan, suddenly turning from a lazy shopkeeper into the scheming former captain of squad 12. "The fact of the matter is, the number of Hollow attacks on Karakura town are still very high, even though most of those who fought them are either gone, going to leave very soon, or busy. In fact, the number of attacks have only increased as of late. This is causing major problems for the souls of this town, especially for those with higher spiritual energy like you two."

Karin grimaced. What Urahara was saying was undeniably true. Uryu was going to leave for college soon so he could get into Medical School and take over his father's hospital. Orihime would also be going to college about the same time, and Chad was busy with his Job all the time. And even though Karakura town was losing these crucial players in the war on Hollows, the creatures still kept coming back. This was undoubtedly a problem, but Karin couldn't think of a solution.

"Well, after watching you take on that Hollow Karin, I was reminded of an old saying," Urahara continued. "It goes something along the lines of 'if you give a man a fish, he eats for a day. But if you teach a man to fish, he will eat for a lifetime.'"

Both Karin and Suzaku blinked, not able to understand where the crazy Shopkeeper was going with this.

"I'm going to teach you the techniques necessary to destroy Hollows! " Urahara exclaimed, clearly happy with his plan.

Karin and Suzaku synchronized spitting out their tea in surprise. "What?!"

"How could you expect me to fight things like that?" Suzaku gasped. "I didn't even know they existed an hour ago!"

"You know I don't have any offensive power against Hollows!" Karin exclaimed. "All I can do is see them; my dad and brother are the only ones with Soul Reaper powers! "

"Do you really think that is true? Even after what just happened?" Urahara countered. "Shakkaho is a common Kido spell. It's a Soul Reaper technique."

Unfortunately, Urahara was right as usual. As much as Karin hated to admit it, she remembered Rukia being able to speak certain incantations and then explosions happening. And even though she hadn't had a clue what she was doing at the time, the destroyed Hollow and the tattered remains of her soccer ball were proof that she had performed the spell.

"But, Urahara, I don't have a sword. And besides, aren't Soul Reapers spirit beings? I clearly have a body." Karin was holding on to her last hope of what remained of her relatively normal life.

"Hmmm, that is a good point." Urahara considered. "Soul Reapers are able to reside in a temporary body, called a Gigai. In the case of Ichigo, he stayed in his own body and used his combat pass to exit it and access his powers in battle. I wonder what would happen if you were forced to leave your body?"

Karin knew better than to let him continue contemplating future experiments. "And what about the sword?"

"Well, a Zanpakuto is acquired when a part of a Soul Reaper's soul attaches to an Asauchi, the empty shell of a Zanpakuto. It doesn't exist when the Soul Reaper is in a Gigai, so I wouldn't worry about it. Soul Reapers have many other abilities and powers that don't need a Zanpakuto."

"Ok, I guess you're right." Karin muttered

"But, Mister," Suzaku cut in, "I still don't see how I could be of any use. I don't have any special Soul Reaper powers!"

"That is true, but you can still learn how to use certain weapons I keep in this shop, just like Ururu and Jinta." The shopkeeper explained.

Karin sighed, admitting defeat. "So, when do you want us to start?"

"Oh, considering how late it is, we probably should wait till tomorrow. Go home and get a good night's rest. Come by after school tomorrow, and we'll start then." Both kids stood up to leave, but Urahara stopped Karin on her way out. "You probably ought to tell your dad about what happened. He is a former Soul Reaper Captain. He might be able to help you with your training."

Karin certainly did NOT want Goat Chin training her, even if he was really good. "I'll tell him, but I don't want him training me unless it is absolutely necessary."

Urahara smiled. "I figured you might say that."

Karin started to go, but realized something. "Oh, I almost forgot." She pulled out the knife Ururu had given her. "This is yours. I don't think it would be much use for me."

Urahara looked surprised. "Oh, I'd almost forgotten I had that. Thank you. It's a remnant of an old experiment that I haven't developed much of a use for." He took the knife and went to the back of the shop, probably to put it where it belonged.

Karin and Suzaku walked together for a while in silence. They eventually reached a fork in the road and Suzaku started walking in a different direction from Karin.

"Hey, wait! Didn't you want to come with me and find out where I live? "Karin asked.

"Well, it's really late and I'm tired. I know that you and I will be spending a lot of time together learning how to fight Hollows. I can follow you home some other time."

Karin smiled and waved goodbye to the guy. Only time would tell whether or not they would be able to work well together, but right now Karin was pretty optimistic.

It was already dark outside by the time Karin got home. Yuzu had already gone to bed, but there was a plate of cold dinner waiting for Karin. She took it over to the microwave, hoping just a minute on high would be enough to make the cold food edible again. Even if she had no talent for housework, Karin could at least be trusted with a microwave.

By the time her food was done, Karin could hear steps coming from the clinic. It seems her dad had been treating a patient, and was just now getting ready to turn in. Karin sat down to eat just as her father came into view.

"My beautiful daughter! You've finally returned!" Isshin Kurosaki tried jumping Karin, but was faced with a punch in the face for his effort.

Karin sighed. "Hey dad, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Of course, Karin. What do you want to talk about? Is there something going on? Is it boy troubles? You know to tell any guy who so much as looks at you that your dear old dad would be more than happy give them a taste of his fists!"

"I'm pretty sure I can take care of myself in that department, goat chin." Karin grimaced. "But seriously, something happened today..."

She told him all about the Hollow and how she destroyed it. She briefly mentioned Suzaku, but didn't explain why exactly he had been following her. She then went into what Urahara wanted from her and why.

Her father listened to her story intently. When she was finished, he sadly looked at his hands. "I am sorry, Karin. I'm sorry that this destiny has been thrust on you. I know that you didn't want this; you didn't like being able to see spirits in the first place. But remember, no matter what, I am proud of you. And I will always be here if you need anything."

His face suddenly changed from being serious and somber to the light and easy-going dad Karin was most familiar with. "I just can't believe my darling daughter has finally unlocked her true powers!" He tried to tackle Karin with a hug again, but ended up on his back with Karin's foot planted firmly on his stomach.

Thankfully, there were some things that would never change. Such as Isshin Kurosaki's personality.

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**Again, please Review! **


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey! so, I have decided to sort of set this story off to the side for a while. I'm not completely abandoning it, but my other story "Karin, Just Karin" has gotten a lot more atention than this one, so I will be focusing on that story. Just letting you know.**

**Disclamer: If you don't think I own it, I probably don't**

**3/25/14: I have reworked this and the previous chapters. If you read them before, please go back and reread at least chapter 2, since I made some important modifications.**

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_Karin was burning up. As in, not only was she incredibly hot, she was literally engulfed in flames. Her entire world was red and orange, fluttering in the slightest swirl if wind as a flame always does. By all accounts, her body should be turning to ash, but somehow it retained its form. _

_Somewhere on the other side of the flames, a giant bird took shape. Whether it was just a form the flames were making or an actual physical being, Karin couldn't tell. The only thing she knew for sure about it was that it took the form of a great bird the size of a very tall man, and its eyes glowed bright yellow, almost white, just like the center of a flame. _

_The bird looked at Karin with those white-hot eyes, and somehow she knew the bird was intelligent. She looked into its eyes, and she saw the burning passions of humanity reflected back at her soul. And that scared Karin to death. _

_The bird opened its beak and appeared to be making some kind of sound. Whether it was a screech, caw, tweet, or some form of intelligent conversation, Karin couldn't tell. She couldn't hear it._

_All she could hear was the roar of the fire surrounding her._

Karin woke up to the sound of her alarm clock as usual. As she got dressed, she wasn't surprised to see that Yuzu was already up and cooking breakfast. It had been a part of their morning routine ever since mom had died: Yuzu would rise early and make breakfast for the family, while Karin would wait until the last possible moment to get up so she would try to not be a bother.

When Karin took off her clothes, she shivered. She hadn't noticed while under the covers, but the room was freezing. She quickly put on her school uniform and headed to the bathroom to freshen up. On her way out, she checked out the thermostat and was shocked to see someone had turned it down 20 degrees. Since it certainly wasn't Karin, it had to be Yuzu. She would have to ask her twin sister why she wanted to be freezing, especially when the forecast predicted a cold front.

Since Karin showered in the evenings and didn't believe in makeup for everyday use, it wasn't long before she was ready to start the day. She headed down to get breakfast and found Yuzu taking out the plates to put the food on. Karin watched sadly as her sister started to take out four plates like she had for so many years, and then realized her mistake and put one of them back.

As much as they all tried to hide it, the entire family was affected by Ichigo's absence.

Karin sat down and started to eat. She waited until Yuzu had sat down and picked up her chopsticks to ask her about how low the air was.

"Oh, that's right! I completely forgot!" Her twin explained, "I woke up after you had gone to sleep burning up under the blanket. I tried sleeping on top of the blanket, but it didn't help. I turned down the thermostat, and I was finally able to get comfortable. I meant to turn it back up when I woke up, but I guess I didn't feel cold so I forgot."

Karin smiled at her sister, telling her it was alright and that she shouldn't worry. It was probably just something weird going on with the weather.

Soon after, Goat-Chin decided to come down and try to tackle his daughters, but was met with a pair of chopsticks and a pan to his face.

* * *

"Hey Karin, have you heard?"

Karin looked up from her textbook she had been reading to listen to one of her soccer buddies, Daigo. Their teacher had stepped out to deal with a class down the hall that was waiting for its sub, and Karin's class had been left the task of reading the next chapter in their history textbook. Not that anyone was actually reading, though.

"Heard what?" Karin replied.

"Don Kanonji is going to shoot the next episode of his new hit series, _Karakura Superheroes_, right here in this town!"

"So?" Karin feigned indifference, but was mentally fuming. She really didn't need the over-the-top show host anywhere near her right now. The last time he had filmed a show in Karakura town, he had accidentally made a whole turn into a hollow prematurely, and then decided to make her soul reaper brother his disciple. At least, that's what Ichigo had told her when he finally got around to telling her about everything that had happened since he had gotten his powers. And considering Karin's own experience with Kanonji, she didn't doubt it.

"Well, it is the most popular TV show in the country! Aren't you excited?" Daigo continued, unimpressed by Karin's lack of enthusiasms. "You know, he always picks his team members from the local population. Do you think I have a chance of getting to be a superhero?"

"Be one of the 4 to 6 kids out of the whole town who gets to beat up invisible beings on TV? Going by statistics, not likely." Sadly, Karin had a funny feeling the same couldn't be said for her. Kanonji already knew about her ability to see spirits, and he had already dragged her and her sister into being on the pilot episode. Thankfully, not many people had known to watch that episode, and it hadn't been rerun very often. Not many people knew she had ever been on the show.

"Awww, Karin! Why are you in such a bad mood today?"

"I _had _been in a good mood earlier, but you had to go and ruin it." She muttered. Nothing like the impending doom of Don Kanonji showing up to ruin your day.

Daigo opened his mouth to give a reply, but Karin was saved from further conversation by their teacher's return. The entire class stopped talking and pretended to be reading, and the rest of the school day passed without any further incident.

It wasn't until she started walking home that anything else interesting happened. Since soccer practice had been canceled due to the coach falling ill, Karin was able to walk home with Yuzu. At least, she started walking home with Yuzu until she saw Suzaku running up to them and remembered that she had an appointment with the shopkeeper.

"Oh, Yuzu, I completely forgot I need to pick up somethings from the store. I'll see you at home." She tried to leave her twin to head out to Urahara's shop.

"Really? Which store?" Yuzu asked, skeptical.

"Oh, you know, the really weird one." That had been their code for Urahara's shop ever since she had started buying things from there.

"Oh, ok. You know, I've been meaning to go visit Ururu and Jinta. I think I'll go with you."

"Sure, all right." Karin had hoped to keep these lessons with Urahara from her twin a little longer, but she should have known better.

"Karin! Yuzu! Wait for me!" Suzaku caught up to the sisters. He had been running since he had left the school building, and was now bent over panting. "Hey... would you guys mind... if I... walked with you?"

Yuzu looked at the boy sadly. "I'm afraid we probably aren't going the same place, Suzaku." Little did she know.

"Actually, I hate to say it, but we _are_ going to the same place. Unfortunately." Karin explained to her sister.

"Really? Suzaku, what do you need from Mr. Urahara's shop?" Yuzu asked.

"Uh well, it's not exactly like that..." Suzaku started to say.

"Apparently, Suzaku can see spirits like me. Hat 'n clogs recruited us to learn how to fight hollows since most of the other people who fought them will either be leaving soon, have already left, or are to busy. We are supposed to start training today." Karin explained. Might as well get it all out in one go.

"Oh." Yuzu blinked, then burst into a huge grin. "That's awesome! I really wish I could see spirits. Do you think if I trained with you guys I could eventually see them? I can just imagine it..." she continued to ramble the whole trip there. Karin just nodded and gave short replies every time her twin took a breath. Suzaku just stared at Yuzu like the love-struck idiot he was.

When they got to the store, they were surprised that Ururu and Jinta weren't in their usual spots sweeping the front. Karin extended her senses to feel the spiritual pressures of everyone in the building. She recognized Urahara, Tessai, Ururu, and Jinta, but there was someone else with them. Possibly Yoruichi? No, she knew and could recognize the part-time cat. Suddenly, Daigo's news came back to her.

_Please, oh please anyone but him._

Karin opened the front door. "Hey, Mr. Urahara? We're here to start our training! "

"Oh, Karin, Suzaku, and Yuzu too. Come on in, we're waiting for you in the back. And we've even got a guest that is really excited to meet all of you!" The cheerful shopkeeper called to them.

Karin led the others to a room in the back of the shop and opened the door. She saw Urahara, Tessai, Ururu and Jinta sitting around a table, along with one other person...

_Oh no, it just had to be him._

"It's Karakura red! And Karakura yellow! Finally, the team that started it all is back together again!" Don Kanonji exclaimed.

"Hey! You told me I was Karakura red!" Jinta objected.

"I can't believe this! Is this actually Don Kanonji? It's an honor to meet you!" Suzaku was star struck. And why shouldn't he be? This was his first time meeting a famous person.

Karin, on the other hand, knew better. "What are you doing here, Kanonji? Please don't tell me you want to recruit us for that stupid team for your TV show."

"Of course! It would only make sense for me to reunite the original team, especially since it is the 100th episode!" The show host looked excited. "So what do you say? Want to be a superhero again?"

"Not interested." Karin bluntly replied.

"Karin!" Yuzu and Suzaku cried.

"If you're not ready for us yet, I'll be outside. Come get me when you're ready to teach me how to seriously fight hollows." With that, Karin turned around and walked out of the room.

* * *

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